FERGUSON'S RECIPE
Tottenham (England) - Sevilla (Spain) - 2: 2 (first match - 1: 2)
It seems that the Tuesday match of “Manchester United” and “Roma” has firmly entered the subconscious of football people. So, Tottenham’s mentor Martin Yol, on the eve of the game against Sevilla, reasoned: “I don’t count on 7: 1, but I think I’ve clearly learned the lesson from Manchester United. If the team starts at a high pace and uses free zones, it delivers a lot problems. "
However, the recipe from Alex Ferguson was not used by the Dutchman, but his colleague-opponent Juande Ramos. The Sevilians, who played without an injured goalkeeper Palop, immediately pushed the front to the alien half. The hurricane pace was a revelation for the “spurs”. Each of the two debut goals (in the second case, Kerutzhak was Kanoute's assistant) doubled Tottenham's goal. If before the starting whistle he was required one goal back, then in the 8th minute - already four.
Intrigue revived as suddenly as it faded. In the middle of the second half, the hosts held a no less dynamic blitzkrieg and the efforts of Defoe and Lennon restored equilibrium.
Impressive smile, now and then visiting the face of Ramos, immediately disappeared. A similar metamorphosis occurred with the Seville footballers. They carefully worked out the ending. Last year's trophy winner stepped confidently into the semi-finals. “Seville” is getting closer to the repetition of achieving Madrid “Real” - in the mid-80s, the royal club twice won the tournament in a row.
INSERTING BARRELS
Benfica (Portugal) - Espanyol (Spain) - 0: 0 (2: 3)
In previous Espanyol games, a gaming article and striking striking stand out. In 9 meetings, the Barcelona scored 8 wins with one draw and scored 27 goals - the best result of the draw. In addition, their striker Walter Pandiani with a dozen hits leads in the individual sniper race.
But in Lisbon, the Catalans were unrecognizable. Their pallor was aggravated by the absence of an injured Tamudo, who, along with Pandiani, defines the face of Ernesto Valverde's squad. True, this was not decisive. To a greater extent affected the mood and perseverance of “Benfica”, advancing sweeping and varied. Only by pure chance and with incredible luck of the guests their gates remained impregnable.
The apogee of house failure was in the middle of the second half, when in a short section of the stands they sighed three times disappointedly. He hit Nuno Gomesh point-blank with a couple of meters, but landed in Iraisos. Then Mikkoli was unlucky, the sonorous blow of which fell in the rack. And to top it off, I checked the strength of Rui Costa.
WITHOUT Euphoria
Osasuna (Spain) - Bayer (Germany) - 1: 0 (3: 0)
Missing before the stars from the sky, "Osasuna" makes history. For the first time making her way to the European Cup quarterfinals, she went even further. The trip to Navarra caused purely negative emotions at Bayer. By the sum of two games, he was four goals behind - the most impressive difference among all the pairs.
Everything was decided back in Leverkusen, although the pre-match pun was amusing. To seed the German club steering, Michael Skibbe defined his team's chances as zero. Jose Angel Siganda, head of the Pamplona team, categorically did not agree with him: "I have long been in football and know by myself that there are simply no chance of zero chances." In short, he did not allow euphoria among the wards, and Osasuna again prevailed. The victory brought Juanlu, who successfully played in finishing.
WHAT AJAX, WHAT AZ
Werder (Germany) - AZ Alkmaar (Holland) - 4: 1 (0: 0)
The Spanish company was diluted by Werder Bremen, who remembered the best of times and broke AZ in a corporate style. A couple of stages ago, the Bremen had already experienced rivalry with the Dutch club. In their native walls, they left the legendary “Ajax” out of business - 3: 0. The turn came and Alkmarians. Moreover, given the previous scoring weakness, “Bremen” (a pathetic ball in three meetings), the outcome is surprising. Sang the attacks of “Bremen” Klose was barren for 875 minutes. Forward erupted in a pair with a carrier of shells Diego. They issued a one-way AZ ticket - to their homeland, to the Land of Tulips.
So, in the semifinals (April 26 and May 3), “Bremen” will play with “Espanyol”, and “Seville” - with “Osasuna”.
Denis ORLOV